Jay and I ran Chill in the Hills last year, but since he's just now getting back into running (today, with the 1-mile fun run!) and I ran the marathon last weekend, I decided to volunteer instead at this year's event. It was a great experience to give back after running so many races last year, and really fun to meet so many locals and then subsequently know their names as I cheered for them from the sidelines!
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| Eric, 44:55 |
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| Francine, 54:03 |
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| Mack, 54:48 (you guys, that is over 3 minutes faster than I ran this event last year, and he is 69 - don't think I won't be using Mack as my mantra during speedwork this spring as motivation, and now you know why I train with the RWOP group - they're fast!) |
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| Terry, 55:44 |
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| JP and Lee, 1:02:14 and 59:58 |
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| Sophie (who also volunteered rather than race) and Beth (who is the high school's cross country and track coach and a Boston Qualifying marathoner, but who was injured for today's race) taking care of Michelle's (Tom's wife, the fast Brit who organized ERDC's Turkey Trot this year and placed 5th overall at The Blues!) girls while she raced |
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| Kristy coming in to the finish (I missed getting her photo earlier in the race), 44:14 for the overall female win! |
The kids both wanted to do the Fun Run, so I registered them last night at the last minute. Cora told me we were to wear our "racing skirts", of course.
It was truly a "chill" in the hills this year (unlike last year), so we were all bundled up. Especially the kids.
James ran with his daddy, but kept coming back to wait on Cora and I. And to play on the side of the road. And to dance around and talk to strangers. We had to explain to him later, when he was upset not to have won an award, that there are lots of fast kids and that if he wants to place in his age group, he has to try his best and not goof off. He had fun, but was definitely bummed not to get a chili bowl.
Cora held my hand and ran for the first half, then I piggy-back carried her for a quarter mile (not good for my sore legs!), then she ran the last quarter mile between Lee and I. And then switched to holding her daddy's hand for the final sprint. Pretty sure we won't sign her up for the next Fun Run, but we'll see. She needs to understand that to pay for a race registration, you have to complete the race on your own two feet. She's fast, but I think a mile is still just too long for her.
Regardless, both kids were thrilled that everyone got a medal at the end of the fun run. James said "Ooh, Daddy look at my mile! I won!"
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| 14:10 and 14:11 for their miles, respectively (you all know James can go faster than that, since his Over the River Run mile was 11:40 - he was definitely not in race mode today, and that's OK) |
Post race tree-climbing while watching the awards ceremony.
Cora with her award (a giant chili bowl). She won first in her age group, because she was the only girl in her age group! Hey, a win is a win :-)
And perhaps my favorite photo of the morning? Me cheering on the running bacon (the second running bacon I've seen this week, since there was one at The Blues as well).
P.S. That bacon was fast! She ran the 10K in just under 49:00 in that getup! Maybe I need a bacon suit for my next race...
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